By David V. Griffin
The third annual Archtober Cocktail Crawl was held October 4, 2017 in and around the Flatiron District.
Hosted by The Architect’s Newspaper and their recent new title AN Interior and drawing approximately 1,200 participants, the event involved an evening of music, specialty cocktails and socializing for architects, interior designers and other industry professionals.
14 locations participated, and design studios and showrooms were crowded with invitation-only guests.
Creative details included violet lemonade at Farrow & Ball, a DJ and roasted autumn vegetables at HG Stones and a German Oktoberfest band and barmen in Bavarian costumes at TOTO.
“This is the second time we’ve participated,” said Gerry Molina, marketing and communications manager for Cesar New York, the 50-year old Italy-based kitchen design company, whose Flatiron location opened in May 2016.
“We think it’s an excellent way to target and receive architects and interior designers as well as their clients and helps us to create a good first impression in a fun, soft-sell environment.”
Architect Hans Roegele has been attending the event for two years. “It’s an easy, low-pressure way to see new products over a pleasant evening and meet up with colleagues,” he said. “Even if I don’t always have a particular product in mind, I like to see what’s available – it’s good to file information away for when it’s needed.”
“Our Archtober Event is one of two we run annually, the first taking place in May,” said Susan Kramer, special events director at The Architect’s Newspaper.
“Our initiative is to highlight showrooms in the Flatiron area and create a fun, walkable, and intimate evening for guests.”
Kramer noted that the event was created to coincide with the launch of AN Interior, now in its third year and a design and culture magazine focused on the latest innovations in architectural interiors and products.
“We have other programs on the calendar as well, including our upcoming Facades+ conference in Los Angeles, which will feature some of the industry’s top professionals leading panels, and presentations on building skins and new and sustainable design practices.”
Archtober and its sister event will remain small-scale and highly vetted, guaranteeing that showrooms and guests have time to make important first connections. “We’re always glad to help welcome new showrooms to the Flatiron neighborhood,” Kramer said. “But we also want the evening to be manageable, so that guests really have a chance to visit all the participating venues.”
According to Molina, Cesar New York plans to be among those venues next year. “We really haven’t seen a program like this on the design calendar,” she says. “We garnered 500 visitors over the three hours and we’re very impressed by the diversity of response. We look forward to doing the spring program next May.”
